In a surprising move, Sony has managed to sign one of the hottest actors of the moment for the upcoming movie Venom. Many fans believed that such a project had no chance of success without Spider-Man, but this may have them changing their tunes. The news that Tom Hardy will portray Eddie Brock (played by Topher Grace in Spider-Man 3) has set the internet on fire.

In The Dark Knight Rises, Hardy played Bane, although many fans of the character thought he’d never be able to pull it off. Next, he was courted by 20^th Century Fox to appear in X-Men: Apocalypse and Warner Bros. to appear in Suicide Squad, but he turned down both roles.

His other credits include Bronson; the awesome Mad Max: Fury Road; Warrior; The Revenant; and Inception. Most recently, he created and starred in the critically acclaimed series Taboo.

And that’s not all! Sony has also revealed that production for Venom will begin this fall, and is scheduled to be released on October 5, 2018:

 

Tom Hardy is Eddie Brock in #Venom, the upcoming film from Sony's Marvel Universe releasing October 5, 2018 - production starts this fall. pic.twitter.com/OZQqDEvoum

"” Sony Pictures (@SonyPictures) May 19, 2017

The studio has found a very competent director for Venom in Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland and the upcoming Zombieland 2). The script is being written by Scott Rosenberg (best known for writing scripts for the Nicolas Cage movies Con Air and Gone in 60 Seconds, as well as the upcoming Dwayne The Rock Johnson vehicle Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) and Jeff Pinkner (who wrote the screenplays for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and the upcoming The Dark Tower).